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Over the weekend, police in Virginia Beach ordered the store to take down displays that showed a partially exposed buttocks and breast. The store's manager faced a misdemeanor obscenity charge after customers complained.
Legal experts said the posters of scantily clad youths that were seized may be inappropriate for young children, but they are not obscene.
Monday, Virginia Beach police agreed, dropping charges against the clothing company
The window displays went up in 363 stores across the country in mid-January. Locally, the retailer has stores in Carousel Mall, Ithaca and New Hartford.
Abercrombie & Fitch says it will vigorously defend its right to display photos of bare-chested men and a partially exposed woman. It says the images show less skin than seen on "any summer day at the beach" or by a "plumber working on your kitchen sink."
What's your thoughts? Leave your comments below...
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He was sentenced by Judge Walter Hafner for burglary in 2002? So what did he do when he got out of jail four years later? Broke into Judge Hafner's home, and stole more than $35,000 worth of items.
Michael Mason admitted he did it, and was sentenced Monday to eight years in prison, and five years of post-release supervision.
Read the full article here. Leave your thoughts below...
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A state Department of Education employee is accused of using his position to steal hundreds of historic documents and artifacts from the State Library. The State Attorney General says the artifacts were sold on eBay and Traded at Collectors’ Shows.
Some of the things the Archives and Records Management Specialist is accused of stealing included a 4-page letter to a New York General by John C. Calhoun from 1823 and a “Currier & Ives lithograph that depicts ‘View From Fort Putnam, West Point Hudson River, N.Y.’”
What's your thoughts? Leave your comments below...
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Despite objections from local lawmakers, it appears that folks crossing the border will soon have to have more than just a driver's license. Starting today, U.S. and Canadian citizens whose documents don't measure up to new travel requirements taking effect next week are being given written instructions and a warning at U.S. ports of entry. Beginning Jan. 31, a driver's license will not be enough to get past Customs and Border Protection agents - travelers will now have to produce a passport or NEXUS card (available at limited border crossings), or both a driver's license and birth certificate. Will this impact the amount of times you travel across the border? Do you think the tougher restrictions are necessary? Leave your comments below....
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Sad news from the Syracue Diocese Thursday night; Father Joseph Champlin, who served as a parish priest in the Catholic Diocese for over 40 years, has died. He was 77.
Champlin had been named as one of three Grand Marshals for the St. Patrick's Parade.
The long time rector of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception apparently lost his battle with a rare form of cancer.
Leave your comments about Msgr. Champlin below...
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A special commission is calling for drastic changes to fix aging bridges and roads and reduce traffic deaths. One of the proposals sure to get people fired up? Increasing federal gasoline taxes by up to 40 cents per gallon over five years. The two-year study by the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission is the first to propose broad changes after the devastating bridge collapse in Minneapolis.
Read through the full story here.What's your thoughts on the situation, and the proposal?
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The Cicero Town Board voted Friday morning to change its sex offender law, which was adopted in 2006. The law said convicted sex offenders could not live within one mile of a school or day care, and 1,500 feet of a park or playground.
Friday, the Town Board voted 3 to 1 to grandfather in any sex offenders who lived at their present address before November 2006. A convicted sex offender, who lived at the same address for 16 years, and would have been forced to move under the law.
What do you think of the move? Leave your comments below....
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The company that owns the New Process Gear plant in DeWitt tells its 3,000 workers it can no longer afford to keep the plant open, if it can't lower its cost of doing business. The united auto workers union issued a direct communication to its membership Wednesday, making it clear the factory's future is on the line. Read the full story here.What are your thoughts on the issue? Leave your comments below…
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State Senate Republicans said Thursday they are working on a property tax relief plan that would start with bigger STAR rebate checks and the eventual end with the elimination of school taxes.
Senate Republicans want to phase out schools taxes 20% each year for five years. A new state aid formula would be created to fully reimburse districts for the reduction in local money.
After five years, the formula would provide districts with an annual school aid cost of living increase.
What do you think of the proposal? Republicans playing politics, or is it a change that is long overdue? Leave your comments below....
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Wednesday, just one day into the new year, oil prices hit the $100 mark for the first time ever.
Why?
Good enconomies in China & India that use oil & gas; tensions
in oil producing nations like Nigeria & Iran; a report from OPEC
saying it won't be able to meet the world's oil needs by 2024.
With all this news, are you planning any changes to your home, your vehicle, your life in 2008, to help you spend less on fuel?
Leave your comments below....
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The Hotel Syracuse New Year’s Eve party may be canceled, but there are still other places to ring in the New Year.
Share your suggestions on what events to attend this year.
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Benazir Bhutto - Pakistan’s principal opposition leader - was assassinated Thursday.
She was killed as she campaigned against the government of President Pervez Musharaff.
Her murder comes two weeks before legislative elections in which her party was expected to do well.
Bhutto was shot at close range as she was leaving a political rally; a suicide bomber then detonated explosives near Bhutto’s car, killing at least 20 others.
What are your thoughts on the situation? Leave your comments below....
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It was an unpleasant suprise for some Wal-Mart customers the day after Christmas. Shoppers trying to use their gift cards could not, because of computer problems.
Wal-Mart says the problem was small, and fixed by Wednesday afternoon.
Were you affected? Did you have gift card problems at another store? Leave your comments below.
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Wednesday, the Public Service Commission began to examine what to do about an apparent phone number problem in Central and Northern New York.
We've all been used to 315 as our area code for many years; however, some of us may have to change those first three digits.
The number of phone numbers available using the 315 prefix is running out; by 2010, there will be none left, so options are being explored right now.
What do you think/recommend the PSC do? Should cell phones have their own area code like NYC has done? Should a certain part of the 315 area code zone be chopped off... who should it be?
Leave your comments below...
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A Cicero-North Syracuse High School student has been charged with distributing nude pictures of female students.
The charges stem from cell phone pictures that about a dozen high school girls, age 11 to 14, took of themselves in July. They sent the naked pictures to their boyfriends, who then sold them at school.
The pictures ended up on inappropriate websites and also on photo sharing site flickr.com.
17-year-old Michael Wixson was specifically charged with endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, and disseminating indecent materials, a felony, for sharing the photos with an underaged girl.
What do you think about this case and what it says about internet safety and teenagers?
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We learned Thursday the Vivian Teal Howard nursing home in Syracuse is on the federal government's list of the worst in the nation. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services listed that one along with 53 others on its website.
Vivian was among more than 120 designated as a "special focus facility," one that needs more oversight according to CMS. For these homes, states conduct inspections at six month intervals rather than annually.
The homes on the list got not only the special focus designation, but also registered a lack of improvement in a subsequent survey.
Do you have a friend/family/loved one in a nursing home? What's your thoughts on the level of service, and their performance. Leave your thoughts below.
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So, which one will be on your holiday shopping list this year? The Zune or the newest versions of the iPod.
I caught this article on the AP Wire Monday morning that said the 80-gigabyte version of the Zune media player that Microsoft launched last Tuesday has sold out across the Web, to the dismay of online shoppers and delight of the world's largest software maker.
iPod has not reported any shortages at this time?
So which media player is your favorite? Leave your comments below.
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State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said Friday his office would audit the Thruway Authority
and urged the Thruway to delay its proposed toll hike until after the audit is done.
The State Comptroller’s office says it was contacted by several elected officials in recent days asking for the audit of the proposed toll increase. After examining the requests and investigating preliminary information, DiNapoli determined the audit was warranted.
Many have been asking why the Thruway needs to raise tolls an average of ten percent in January, followed by five percent increases in each of the following two years.
Leave your comments below....
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A lawmaker from the Rochester area wants to make it illegal for motorists to send text messages while driving... this after a horrific crash devastated his hometown.
Five young women killed were killed in a head-on crash. The teenage victims -- all recent graduates of Fairport High School -- were killed when their SUV slammed head-on into a tractor-trailer while en route to a Finger Lakes summer home. It was never clear if the driver was texting at the time.
Alesi's legislation would also require the Department of Motor Vehicles to educate new drivers about the dangers of driving while distracted.
Under his bill, people caught texting while driving would face a $100 fine.
What's your take? Should driving while texting be illegal? Is a law needed? Leave your comments below.....
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A new report says the economic cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is now estimated at 1.6 trillion dollars.
That's roughly double the amount of money the White House has requested so far, and translates into a cost of nearly $21,000 for a family of four.
The report from congressional Democrats on the Joint Economic Committee includes "hidden" costs such as interest payments on the money borrowed to pay for the wars. The total also accounts for lost investment, the expense of long-term health care for injured veterans and the cost of oil market disruptions.
Some could argue this report is slanted, since it was put out by Democrats. To me, what is interesting is the breakdown of how much money familes across the nation are paying for the war. What's your opinion? Does the cost change your opinion of the War on Terrorism?
Leave your comments below.
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